Means for forming molded objects



Sept; 7', 1926. A; E. GlBs'oN IEANS FOR FORMING MOLDED OBJECTS A. E. GIBSON l i IBANS''OR FRMING MOLDED OBJECTS I l Original 'le /7 l l v 1g l .F11-a3 E? 2 Sheefs-Sheet 2 FIGJ.

FIG': 4.

lo ll Patented sept. 7, 192e;

. UNITED STATES PATENT olf-FICE.

ALBEB'r E oIBsoN, or PHILADELPHIA, rENNs'YLvANLA, AssIaNon 'ro TEE DEN'rrs'rs' suivra-Y coxPANY, A oonronA'rIoN or NEW Yonx.

i MEANB .EoB EoEmNG uoLDED oBJEc'rs.

' 'Original application vIllu! February-:17, '1922, Serial No. 587,157. Divided and this application illed lay My invention has forl its ob'ect the mold- Aing ofarticial teeth and ot er objects in such a manner'as. to form them of two or more grades of material (such as of dierent colors) and. which, when baked or vitrified, `will provide a unitary object with different colors ork shades blended to a greater or less de ee.

Iy object is further to provide a suitable lmachine or apparatus to insure the vproper assemblage or mixing of the materials from which the teeth or other objects are to be molded and for utting the same under compression in molridd form preliminary to s ubsequent treatment such as baking or vitriying, according to the use lof the object.

This application is a division of my applif cation Serial Number 537 ,157, filed February 17, 1922, in which is set out and claimed the method vor rocess herein referred to, and which application also discloses the appa- .ratus forming the subject matter of the present'application.

Considerin the subject of this 'invention more particu arly in respect to the making of artificial teeth, it is necessary to provide a.

porcelain body portion of a relatively darker ',material than the front and incisor porl-tions which are composed of lighter and more transparent porcelain.

Heretofore, the material .composing the` i light and dark portions of the teeth is first preparedv in a more. or less pasty conditionA and then introduced successively by hand in the mold and 'subsequently pressed and baked preliminary to the iinal andvitrifying operation. `The process, as heretofore carrie-d on, isrelatively slow and, moreover, is liable to provide more or lessirregularity and dissimilarity in the shadingof the teeth when they should be duplicates of each other.

By my improved means, I am enabled to mold such teeth in a rapid manner from a powdered or granular material and at the same time insure absolute uniformity' in the deposition of the. materials in the mold for insuringr the different coloring or shading of the article. 'l f Furthermore, by my improved means'for carrying the same into effect, I am enabled Serial No. 686,066.

to subject the material to great pressure so that the said material in granular form is so compacted that it is brou ht to a strong molded shape which may e readily handled without thenecessity of a preliminary baking, operation, as has heretofore been necessary with hand' moldedteeth.

Wlth the above and other objects in view, the nature of which will be more fully understood fromthe description hereinafter, the invention' consists in the novel construction of means Afor molding objects, as here. inafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

Referring to-thedrawings: Fig. l is a sectional view of the cooperative portions' of a machine adapted for the practice of my improved process and embod ing the structural characteristics of the pre erred form of apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the upper dies removed; Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are vertical sectional views of the main dies and thematerials operated upon for .illustrating the several steps in the-process; Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a modification; Fig. 10 is a sectional view of a completely molded tooth form with anchor embedded and ready for receiving the anchor pin; and Fig. l1 is a perspective view of the die structures employed in Figs. 3 to 8, inclusive.

' 2 is the main frame and is provided with a vertical aperture 3 in which a vertically reciprocable annular die body 4 is adapted to be vertically adjustable under the operation of an oscillating lever mechanism 5 intended to raise the body 4 to at least the position indicated in Fig. 1 or to lower the same to expose the upper art of the die 6, as may be required. The ower die member 6 is guided within the body 4 and is adjustable vertically by means of a pivoted lever structure 9.

is hinged and by which motion is imparted v to the-die member 6. The lower part ofthe spool is provided with an adjustable abutment Screw Gxby which the die member 6 loo may be adjusted vertically with respect to the spool. When the spool 7 is f ully down, it rests upon the part 2a of the main frame 2, `said part 2a constituting an abutment forsustaining the die member 6 during the downward thrust of the male die member 1S?, to be later described. By providing the adjustable abutment screw 66L and the adjustable nut 7, capacity for adjusting the posltion and movement of the die member 6 vertically is had to control the thickness of the article beingmolded, as more fully described hereinafter.

The main frame 2 isl provided with a table 24 having a level corresponding to the upper surface of the body member 4 of the die structure when fully raised for die action, as indicated in Fig. 1. Rotatably supported upon this table is a mechanism 25 for feeding the materials to be molded from hoppers 40 and 41 into the space of the die member 4, as will be understood from the drawings. This mechanism 25 is secured to a vertical shaft 32 journaled in the main frame and provided at its lower end with a coil spring 33 which pulls the mechanism 25 into a snug fitting with the top of the table 24 and upper surface of the -body ,member 4 of the die structure when raised. ,A More specifically, this feeding mechanism 25 comprises two oppositely directed curved feeding passages 2 6 and` 28 respectively provided at their lower ends with discharge openings 30 and 31 which are closed or sealed by the surface of the table 24 and upper surface of the body member 4, except when brought directly over the aperture in the body member 4, of the die structure, as indicated in Fig. 1. As shown, the curved passage 26 may terminate at its upper end in a hopper 27, whereas the curved passage 28 terminates in a larger annular hopper 29 surrounding the hopper 27. These hoppers 27 and 29 are respectively supplied with molding materials A and B from the containers 40 and 41 which discharge into the hoppers. The feeding mechanism 25 may be rotated by a bevel gear 35 on a driving shaft 36 meshing with a bevel gear 34 on the feeding mechanism itself.

During the operation of the machine, this feeding mechanism may be rotated continuously or intermittently, as preferred, so that it deposits within the die structure a measured amount of the material A and after the j same has been adjusted by part compression, itdelivers the other material B into the space thus provided within the die structure before the final compression of the two materials into the unitary body, all of which will be fully understood from a later description of the operation.

At a point above the body member 4 of the diestructure is arranged any suitable form of mechanism for vertically reciprocating a pair of male die members 17 and 19, alternately. -In the particular mechanism illustrated, 14 is a vertical reciprocating head which may be guided in an extension of the main frame and put into action by any of the usual mechanisms cniployed in stan'iping or die process. Pivoted to the bottoni of the head 14 on a vertical stud 16 is an adjustable die carrying frame 15 having two sockets respectively upon opposite sides of the stud 16 and one of which is fitted with a shaping die 17 having a lower inclined surface 18, and the other provided with a plunger die 19 having its end surface shaped to conform to the upper part of the finished molded object. The die carrying frame or turret 15 may be rotated about the stud 16 by a gear 22 meshing with gear teeth 21 about said frame, the latter teeth being of relatively great vertical height so as to permit vertical reciprocation relatively to the operating gear 22. Ao sprine actuated lunger 23 in the head 14 may be employed) to coact with holes in the upper part of the turret frame 15 to ccntralize the dies 17 and 19 over the aperture in the die body 4 and over bottom die member 6, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 1.

When this invention is employed to mold artificial teeth, it is usually necessary t o embegl within the bisk body a platinum pin or anchor and provideea hole leading thereto from the back of the tooth and to provide these results, I employ the following devices: Extending upwardly through the lower die member 6 is a stationary rod 10, the lower end thereofbeing adjustably attached to the main frame 2 at '11 and at the upperend there is a slightly tapered` post portion 12- which projects above the -upper surface of said die member 6 and adapted to support the anchor 13, of whatever form it may be. When the anchor is to be placed on the'post, the body member 4 'is moved downward upon4 the lower die member 6 so as to expose said post 12 -to permit the. application of the anchor by hand or automatically as may be desired, I in no way confining myself in this respect. When the bisk tooth has been molded (as described hereinafter) the die member G is raised, thereby lifting the tooth and its anchor from the stationary post. The adjustment of the rod 10 vertically is to not only insure the proper projection ot' the post 12 within the mold space, but where the lower die member 6 is adjusted as to its vertical movement to insure a greater or less quantity of the materials A and B being received in the body member 4 to provide a resulting bisk tooth of greater or less thickness, as required, this rod 10 must be correspondingly adjusted to mainbedment of the anchor. The adjustment of the die member 6 is secured by the abutment screw 6* and the nut, either orboth, as desired. v i

The general operation .of the process and machine may now be understood from the following description. Assuming that the process is intended to produce artifical teeth, such as illustrated in Fig. 10, which is to bemolded by the cooperation of the members 4, 6, 17 and 19, upon materials A and B supplied by the feeding mechanism 25,

' and moreover, further provided, 'if desired,

with the anchor 13 in place and an aperture 13 leading thereto (as indicated in Fig. 10), the following procedure is had. The feeding mechanism supplies the A material through the conduit 26 and aperture 30 into the space within the mold body 4 and above the bottom die member 6, 4as indicated inv Fig. 1. It will be understood, however, that the configuration ofthe top of the bottom die member 6 andthe bottom 20 of the male die member 19 are shaped to correspond to the back and front surfaces of the tooth formation to be produced,'and further that the anclior 13 had been placed upon the end of the post 12 of the stationary rQd 10, so that the said anchor will-be molded within the tooth body. y When the space within the die body 4 has been filled, the feeding mechanism 25 is rotated to expose the upper surface of the body 4. Thereupon, the packing or shapin die 17 descendsand entering the body mem er 4, causes the materia-l A therein Vto be crowded late-rally and somewhat `packed down upon the lower die member 6,

as will be understood by reference to Fig. 5. This provides 'a space above the material A and within the body member 4 into which `material B may be supplied when the shap-v ing or formingdie 17 has been raised, and the feeding mechanism 25 iven a semi-revolution to bring the orifice 1 over the upper opening into the body member 4, as will be understood by reference to Fig. 6. During the operation of feeding the B material into the die member 4, the turret frame`15 may be rotated so as to bring the male die19 into position immediately above the lower die member 6 and the aperture of the body member 4; and as soon as the feeding mechanism 25 has been turned to expose the material contained within the body member 4, the head 14 isdepressed with the resultV that the male die 19 is driven downwardly upon the combined material A'and B and compresses it into the condition illustrated in Fi 5, and as more .fully shown in Fig. 10, w erein theA materialV is compressed to the 'tooth form A and the B material compressed to the form B. The

portion A constitutes the body materialof the tooth and is more or lless colored .to imprt atthe middle portion and extending yond it at the incisor end. Similarly, the darker or body portion A of the material extends beyond the enamel portion B and at the. upper or' root end of the tooth. The materials composing the parts A and B may be of the-same general composition, for example, feldspar, kaolin and silex, except for the coloring metallic oxides emplo ed 1n the two parts for imparting the esired shade. When the. compression of the material between Vthe die members 6, 19, is being completed, (Fig. 7), the spool 7 which sustains the lower die member 6 rests directly upon the abutment 2 of the main frame to provide a firm foundation. When `the compression has been completed, the male die member 19 is raised clear of the body member 4 and thereupon he lever mechanism 9 is operated to lift the lower die member 6 to bring the molded tooth to the level of the table 24 and'top of the body member 4, as indicated in Fig. 8. lVhen this is done, a blast of air from the nozzle 39 will remove the molded Vtooth from the dies by blowing it therefrom and into a suitable receptacle. During the raising of the member 6, the molded tooth form with its contained anchor 13 is raised from the stud 12 of the pin 10, so that when the toothform is fully raised, it will contain the anchor and be provided with the hole. 13'* vleading thereto, as shown in Fig. 8.

It will be observed from reference to Figs. 3 and 4 that when the materials A and B are introduced within the body member 4, the material A will extend practically for the full area of the lower die 6. It will also be observed from Figs. 7 and 8, that when the die 19 compresses the material, there will be a tendency for the B material at the lower part to crowd the A material to the right and for the A material at the upper portion to crowd the B material to the left, with the result that'when the complete compression ofthe diestakes place, the A material in the part A will extend to the'right of the B material in the part B', and similarly, the B material in the part BV will extend to the left beyond the A material in the part A', as isvclearly indicated in Fig. 10. -The result of this is that the incisor portion 'of the tooth has practically little coloring matter-associated with it, whereas the root or `gum end of the tooth has a pronounced collill) and`the lighter shade toward the incisor end. It will be understood that when the material is in the body mold and the die 17 descends to slightly compress the said material into the condition indicated in Fig. 5, there will be some tendency to crowd a portion of the material upwardly and laterally upon the upper surface of the body mold part 4, because of the lnclined nature of the surface 18 of the die 17. If this occurs, the forward edge 37 of the feeding mechanism 25 will sweep said extruded material over the table and dischar e it at 38, as will be more fully understoo by reference to Fig. 2. y

It is to be understood that while this invention is especially' adapted for the molding of artificial teeth in a rapid manner, it is not restricted to that use, as the dies may be made of any shape desired for articles of various forms and which require porcelain or similar materials of different shades. For example, the two characters of material A and B may be employed in connection with die workwhich would correspond to what are known as cameos wherein the relief portion would be of the lighter material B and the body or backing of the darker material A. This reference to other possible uses of the invention will indicate the capacity for various purposes for which the invention may be employed.

This invention, in a generic sense, is intended to cover the process andl means for molding a plurality of materials in a more or less powdered form into such relation that they mayimpart different coloring effects to the unitary articles as molded, whether the said article is subsequently vitrified ornot. The invention also extends to and includes the articles produced, that is to say, in a generic sense, a molded article formed of compacted powdered materials, whereby said two characters of materials mechanically unite and overlap, so as to provide the dual colors desired, whether the same is made in the form of an artificial toot-h or otherwise, and also including the structure whether it is vitrified or merely hardened under the compression or in any other manner.

Whilethe general character of porcelain compositionis well known and it will be understood that any of such compositions may be employed in carrying out my improved process, I will, however, state that for the powdered or granular material constituting the A and B materials of the previous description, the A material may be composed of a mixture of feldspar with kaolin and .silex and to which is added-a suflicient quantity of metallic oxides to provide the requisite coloring or shading, the same constitutingpthe dark material A of, the object to be produced. On the other hand, the B material which constitutes the light material B of the object may be of identically the same composition, except so far as the coloring oxides are concerned, which may be omitted, if desired. Aside from the mixtures of these earthy or mineral matters, the powders should be mixed with small quantities of a suitable binder, such as is provided by a solution of gum arabic, sugar water, rosin, wax, dextrin or other equivalent vegetable matter or any mixtures of them desired, so that when the materials A and B are compressed in the dies, they will maintain their shape with sufiicient rigidity to be easily handled, and, furthermore, the A and B material will adhere to each other. Before these mixtures are employed in the dies, they are preferably rubbed through a fine sieve so as to be relatively finely divided and of small granular form, permitting easy and satisfactory use in a machine of the character described. It will also be understood that while in the making of artificial teeth the B material will require little or no coloring oxides, nevertheless, in the making of cameos or other ornamental objects suitable coloring matters may be employed with both the light and dark materials in the finished object, and I, therefore, do not limit myself in respect'to such admixt-ure.

As it is quite important that the incisor end of the tooth shall have different coloring matter than the body part, I may, as an additional improvement in my invention, provide means for introducing into the mold body at the incisor end of the mold, a small quantity of the B material before the A material is introduced. This preliminary introduction of B material atBz, Figs. 1 and 3, to constitute the Ba part in the tooth (Fig. l0), may be accomplished in the following manner. The die body member 4 is provided with a vertical .passage 4 opening at the upper surface of the said body member and at the bottom opening sidewise at 4" through the side wall to the interior of the mold apace adjacent to the incisor end thereof. When the feeding mechanism rotates to feed the B material into the interior of the moldl space within the body member 4, it also feeds some of the same material into the passage 4a because the `orifice 31 is suiiiciently wide to permit thisaction. material is not Wide enough to open into the The feeding orifice for the A passage 4 and consequently the A material never enters the said passage. While the B material is delivered both into the mold space of the body member 4 and into the passa e 4 at the same time, that which en. ters t e passage 4a is not delivered into'the mold space until the next molding operation.

Assuming a tooth has` just been molded. and ejected and', the mold members 4"and 6 are again in position shown in Fig. 1. As

` the feeding mechanism is then clear of the ter .port 4* up just enough to discharge some of the B material in the passage 4 into the mold space immediately above the face of the lower die member 6 and atthe lateral end thereof corresponding to the incisor end of the tooth, said deposited material being indicated at B2, Figs.r1 and 3.` The body member 4 is then lowered topow'sition shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The feeding mechanism 25 is then moved to discharge the A material into the remaining space in the bodv member as shown. Then the descent of the male shaping die member 17 not only crowds the A material to the right, but shapes the B material at B2 also, as shown in Fig. 5. Thereafter, the further quantity of the B material is introducedas in Fig. 5. Thereafter the die 19 is brought into action and completes the compression and the final procedure is the same as before described. The B material of the B and Ba parts of the tooth is in effect one body when the full compression has taken place, but I have indicated its location by4 reference letters in Fig. 8 for-better understanding.

It will also be understood that while sol- `dered pin teeth require the anchor .13 to be made a part ofthe tooth and to which the pin is subsequently soldered, the teeth produced by my improved method and means may have pins directly molded in the teeth and anchors omitted. To secure this result, the upper end of the bottom die member 6,is provided'with a shallow hole 13, Fig. 9, into which the pin isv placed with the head thereof .extending upwardly. The4 molding operation .otherwise is the same as before and when the tooth is removed from `the dies, the pin is 'withdrawn with the' tooth.

While I prefer that the material introduced .into the dies at Bl shall be of the same composition as the B material, I do not restrict myself in this respect, as it may be of a slightly more transparent material when vitrifed so that the incisor end of frontal teeth maymore nearly resemble or simulate the natural teeth.

It is pointed out that while the rod 10 provides the post upon which the anchor 13 1s supported within the mold space during the molding operation, and that the said post also acts as a core for molding ahole in the back of the tooth or otherobject, it will be understood that the anchor 13 may be omitted and the end of the rod lntilized in merely molding ahole in the tooth or object from the back, such as is common in diathoric teeth.

' Considering the broader scope of the inysubject matter of m 'Number 537 ,157 filed 'granular or ducing the materials A and B into the mold space, as said materials A andB (and`if.

I have more generally referred to theJ material B beingof lighter color than material A, but in makin artificial teeth, it sometimes is required t at the material B shall be the darker of the two; however, in most instances the B material is quite considerably lighter in color than the- A material.

No claim is made in this application-to the method employed, as the same forms application Serial ebruary 17, 1922-, of which this application is a division.

I have described my improved method and the article of manufacture produced thereby in connection with my lmproved apparatus which I deem to be best suited to the requirements of the invention and on account of economy is preferred in commercial practice, but I do not restrict or confine myself to the minor or secondary details, either as to `the method of procedure or the means employed in putting it into effect, as variations therein may be resorted to as matters' for the skilled artisan and 'without a departure from the spirit of the` invention. A

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:- i

1. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a mold consisting of a relatively stationary annular body member open at top and bottom and upper and lower die members one of which has an upwardly directed molding surface and reciprocatesvertically in the body member and the other of which has a downwardly directed molding Surface and reciprocates through the upper opening in the body member whereby the two die members cooperate in molding the material between them, means for raising and lowering said die members, a stationary table on a level Iwith the upper surface of the annular body member, and means for successively feeding two kinds of ymaterials in owdered form over the table and into the iody member whereby it falls by gravity therein upon the lower vertical die member.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the feeding means consists of a rotating frame having two tubular feeding passages normally sealed by the table except when opening into the top of the body member, means for supplylng two kinds of material respectively to the two tubular 'feeding passages for delivery into the mold body member, and means or imparting a rotary movement to the rotating feeding means. v

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein there is provided a second upper die member for acting upon the material first introduced into the body member to shift and compress it to a lesser degree than the final compression, vertically reciprocating means for simultaneously reciprocating the two upper die members, and means for shifting the two upper die members for bringing them alternately into compressing action with the lower die member and the body member.

4. Apparatus of the character described, comprisin a mold consisting of an annular body memer and two upper and lower die members therefor, means for raising and lowering said die members, a table on a level with the upper surface of the annular body member, means for successively feeding two kinds of materials in granular or powdered form into the mold body member, an anchor supporting post extending upwardly through the lower die member and extending into the mold space, and means for moving the lower-die member upward relativelyto the post for raising the molded object vclear of the post.

5. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a mold consisting of an annular body member and two upper and lower die members therefor, means'for raising and lowering said die members, a table on a level with the upper surface of the annular body member, means for successively feeding two kinds. of materials in granular or powdered form into the mold body member, and wherein further the mold body member is provided with a side port, and means for feeding an additional quantity of material through said side port to be molded whereby it is delivered into the mold space immediately at one side and directly upon the lower die member and a relative movement ber acts as a valve means for controlling the l opening and closing of the side port to the interior of the body member.

7. Apparatus of the character described, comprisln a mold composed of an annular body mem er and uper and lower die members, said body mem er having a lateral port therethrough at a distance from its upper end, means for raising and lowering said die members, and means for feeding materials to be molded through the side port in the body member and also into the upper part of theA body member between it and the upper die member.

8. The invention according to claim 7, further characterized by havingmeans for closing the side port in the body member operative to close said side port before the materials are fed into the upper part of the body member and to remain closed at the time the material is compressed between the upper and lower die members.

9. In a machine of the character described, the combination of an annular body part providingavertical passage through it,a vertically movable lower die member fitting the lower part of the body and adapted to reciprocate vertically therein and having a mold ing surface on its upper end, an upper die member normally above the body and adapted to be vertically reciprocated downward into the upper end of the passage in the body y and having a lower molding surface for directly cooperating with the upper molding surface of the lower die member, and means movable over the upper surface of the body member and between it and the upper die member for delivering into the space Within the body member material in a granular or powderedY form, whereby 'said material is supported upon the lower die member and in position to be compressed thereon by the upper die member.

10. The invention according to claim 9. wherein further, there is provided a second upper die member arranged to be vertically reclprocated so asto enter the body passage associated with means for alternately bringing the two upper die members into molding position in respect to the lower die Vmember and the body member, and an additional means is provided for delivering materials in granular or powdered form of a different shade or color into the bodymember prior to the descent of the last mentioned upper die member, whereby the molded article will be composed of two portions of materials having different color or shade characteristics.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

ALBERT E. GIBSON. 

